Ship with sinking prevention tank and method for manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a ship with sinking prevention tanks and a method for manufacturing the same wherein the ship includes: tank-retaining parts formed on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of a hull; the sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts and having gas charging parts formed thereon so as to charge helium gas thereinto; a blocking wall adapted to block the top sides of the tank-retaining parts in which the sinking prevention tanks are insertedly disposed; gas supply lines connected to the gas charging parts formed on the sinking prevention tanks; and charging valves disposed on the inner side of the deck of the hull in such a manner as to be connected to the gas supply lines and thus to recharge the helium gas to the interiors of the sinking prevention tanks through the gas charging parts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a ship with sinking prevention tanks and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a ship with sinking prevention tanks and a method for manufacturing the sate wherein tank-retaining parts are formed on the port and starboard sides and on the center portion of a hull in such a manner as to insertedly dispose the sinking prevention tanks therein, each of the sinking prevention tanks being charged with helium gas to obtain a buoyant force more than the total weight of the ship at the time when the ship sinks, strikes or turns over, thereby preventing the ship from sinking and further minimizing the loss of life and the property damages.

2. Background of the Related Art

Ships, which are generally used on lakes, seas, and rivers, are made of steel plates, non-ferrous metals, wood, or plastic, and they have a variety of types of cruise ships, high speed vessels, fishing boats, and boats for enjoying boating in accordance with their purposes.

Such ships sail without any trouble in normal cases, but they may sink due to external impacts caused by the collision with a reef or due to climate changes like extreme weather conditions. If the ship strikes, sinks or turns over with the collision with a reef, culvert or offshore structure during sailing, damage holes are formed on the ship and thus water enters the ship through the damage holes, thereby causing the ship to sink.

Like this, if the ship sinks, the high expensive ship just remains in the sea or it is drawn up with high expenses. After the drawing up, high expensive machines and electronic equipment corroded through the exposure to the seawater should be changed with new ones so as to use the ship again, which requires high costs.

Therefore, there is a definite need for preventing ships from sinking, and in conventional practices, a ship is built to have a double structure such that even though external shocks are applied to the ship, no holes are formed thereon.

So as to build the ship having the double structure, works like welding should be performed between bottom plates of the double structure, which causes bad working conditions, and further, there occur some problems that technical defects happen, the weight of the ship becomes increased, and the ship-building costs become high.

For the purpose of protecting ships and passengers from the ship's sinking, thus, there have been conventionally proposed the ships with separate devices capable of increasing the buoyant force thereof, and in this case, the ships have buoyant members attached on the inner surfaces of both side walls of the hull. The buoyant members are formed of foams like tubes in which air or helium gas is charged or Styrofoam having a buoyant force, and they are fixed to the hull to improve the buoyant force of the ship and at the same time to absorb external impacts for the protection of the hull. When marine accidents happen like that a portion of the bottom of the hull is broken or the ship turns over, thus, the formation of the buoyant members prevents the ship from sinking.

In the above-mentioned conventional ships with the separate sinking prevention devices, however, the separate buoyant members should be installed, upon the building of the ship, to increase the buoyant forces, such that it is hare to apply them to existing ships and the construction cost of the ship becomes high. Besides, no separate buoyant forces are provided to the ship sinking due to the external impacts, which basically does not prevent the ship from sinking.

As one example of the conventional practices, further, there has been disclosed Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2011-0005626 wherein a safety ship with buoyant bodies disposed inside a multi-hull like tubes in which compressed air is charged or metal cans sealed after being charged with air. In the case of she multi-hull structure, high speed sailing is possible through one decrement of the frictional force with water, and the independent type of buoyant bodies are provided inside the multi-hull to additionally apply the buoyant forces to the ship, such that even though the ship collides against a reef, the buoyant forces can be maintained by means of the tubes or metal cans to prevent the ship from sinking.

As another example of the conventional practices, also, there has been disclosed Korean Patent No. 10-0813685 wherein a self-uprighting type buoyancy device for a small ship is coupled to the small ship and includes a frame having a given height and buoyant members coupled to the frame and having a space portion in which air is stored to return the ship's hull to its original state by means of buoyant forces when the ship turns over. The buoyant members are formed of impact-absorbing bags so as to prevent the ship from being damaged by one impacts when the ship turns over, and when the small ship turns over due to unexpected accidents, therefore, the buoyant forces are generated without having a separate manipulating lever, thereby returning the small ship to its original state.

As yet another example of the conventional practices, also, there has been disclosed Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2004-0037071 wherein an automatic expanded ship floating device includes a carrier mounted on a ship and having a first cover channel, a second cover channel, a first bag-keeping slot, and a second bag-keeping slot. A space is formed between a long cover having a first edge and a second edge and the carrier, and the first edge is detachably inserted into the first cover channel, while the second edge is being detachably inserted into the second cover channel. Next, a cover removal bag is inserted into the space and is fixed to the carrier, and further, a floating bag is inserted into the space and is fixed to the carrier. An expansion instrument is connected to the cover removal bag and the floating bag and serves to expand them. The first edge of the cover is unfastened from the first cover channel of the carrier to allow the floating bag to be expanded later.

In the above-mentioned conventional practices, the buoyant bodies, buoyancy members or floating bags, which are provided to the ships, serve to prevent the ships from sinking when the ships sink.

According to the prior art Korean Patent No. 10-0813685, however, air supply pipes injecting air into the interiors of the buoyant members are disposed on the lower portion of the ship, and thus, if the air of the buoyant members is ejected during the ship's sailing, it could not be supplied again, which makes it impossible to perform the buoyancy action of the buoyant members well.

According to the prior art Korean Patent No. 10-0813685, further, the buoyant members are disposed on the topmost side or the ship, and after the ship has sunk thus, they are operated to prevent the complete sinking of the ship. Therefore, they fail to prevent the initial sinking, and high expensive equipment unfortunately sinks in the sea.

According to the prior art Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2004-0037071, moreover, the ship's sinking is prevented by means of the floating bags, and therefore, the outer appearance of the ship becomes bad due to the formation of the floating bags. Since the floating bags are exposed to the outside, furthermore, they may be torn or damaged, which makes it impossible to perform the action of the floating bags well when a state of emergency occurs due to the ship's sinking.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a ship with sinking prevention tanks and a method for manufacturing the same wherein tank-retaining parts are formed on the port and starboard sides and on the center portion of a hull in such a manner as so insertedly dispose the sinking prevention tanks therein, each of the sinking prevention tanks being charged with helium gas to obtain a buoyant force more than the total weight of the ship when the ship sinks or turns over, thereby preventing the ship from sinking and further minimizing the loss of life and the property damages, and wherein gas supply lines and charging valves connected to gas charging parts of the sinking prevention tanks are additionally provided, thereby periodically supplying the helium gas to the interiors of the sinking prevention tanks and further reducing the manufacturing costs of the ship.

To accomplish the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ship with sinking prevention tanks including: tank-retaining parts formed on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of a hull; the sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts and having gas charging parts formed thereon so as to charge helium gas thereinto; a blocking wail adapted to block the top sides of the tank-retaining parts in which the sinking prevention tanks are insertedly disposed; gas supply lines connected to the gas charging parts formed on the sinking prevention tanks; and charging valves disposed on the inner side of the deck of the hull in such a manner as to be connected to the gas supply lines and thus to recharge the helium gas to the interiors of the sinking prevention tanks through the gas charging parts.

According to the present invention, preferably, the ship with sinking prevention tanks further includes: auxiliary tank-retaining parts formed on the center of the bottom of the hull; and auxiliary sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed in the auxiliary tank-retaining parts and having the helium gas charged thereinto, the auxiliary sinking prevention tanks being connected to the gas supply lines and the charging valves.

According to the present invention, preferably, each of the tank-retaining parts in which the sinking prevention tank is disposed has a urethane foam insertedly disposed therein so as to absorb the impacts caused by tee destruction of the hull and to protect the sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed therein.

To accomplish the above object, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a ship with sinking prevention tanks, the method including the steps of: forming tanks-retaining parts on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of a hull; insertedly disposing a urethane foam in each of the tank-retaining parts; insertedly disposing the sinking prevention tanks in the tank-retaining parts each having the urethane foam insertedly disposed therein; blocking the top sides of the tank-retaining parts in which the sinking prevention tanks are insertedly disposed by means of a blocking wall; connecting the sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts to gas supply lines; and connecting the gas supply lines connected to the sinking prevention tanks, to charging valves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a ship with sinking prevention tanks according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing tank-retaining parts formed in the ship with the sinking prevention tanks according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing urethane foams are insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts of the ship with the sinking prevention tanks according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the sinking prevention ranks insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts of the ship with the sinking prevention tanks according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing gas supply lines disposed in the ship with the sinking prevention tanks according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the ship with the sinking prevention tanks according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method for manufacturing a ship with sinking prevention tanks according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, an explanation on a ship with sinking prevention tanks and a method for manufacturing the same according to the present invention will be in detail given with reference to the attached drawing. The terms used in the description and claims of the invention are not defined as a general or literal concept, but are defined as the concepts conforming to the technical spirit of the invention on the basis where the terms are appropriately defined to explain the invention best.

According to the present invention, as shown, a ship with sinking prevention tanks includes: tank-retaining parts 10 formed on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of a hull 11; the sinking prevention tanks 20 insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts 10 and having gas charging parts 21 formed thereon so as to charge helium gas thereinto; a blocking wall 30 adapted to block the top sides of the tank-retaining parts 10 in which the sinking prevention tanks 20 are inserted disposed; gas supply lines 40 connected to the gas charging parts 21 formed on the sinking prevention tanks 20; and charging valves 50 disposed on the inner side of the deck of the hull 11 in such a manner as to be connected to the gas supply lines 40 and thus to recharge the helium gas so the interiors of the sinking prevention tanks 20 through the gas charging parts 21.

The tank-retaining parts 10 are formed by utilizing the partitions formed on the hull 11 of the ship, and the sinking prevention tanks 20 are formed of tubes or closed cases.

For example, the three tank-retaining parts 10 are formed on each of the port and starboard sides of the bottom of the hull 11, and of course, the number of tank-retaining parts 10 may be varied in accordance with the total weight of the ship.

Also, the sinking prevention tanks 20 are insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts 10 formed on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of the hull 11, and in this case, the number of sinking prevention tanks 20 corresponds to the number of tank-retaining parts 10.

Further, the ship with the sinking prevention tanks 20 according to the present invention further includes auxiliary tank-retaining parts 60 formed on the center of the bottom of the hull 11 and auxiliary sinking prevention tanks 61 insertedly disposed in the auxiliary tank-retaining parts 60 and having the helium gas charged thereinto, and the auxiliary sinking prevention tanks 61 are connected to the gas supply lines 40 and the charging valves 50.

Of course, the number of auxiliary tank-retaining parts 60 and the number of auxiliary sinking prevention tanks 61 insertedly disposed in the auxiliary tank-retaining parts 60 may be varied in accordance with the total weight of the ship.

Under the above-mentioned configuration, the sinking prevention tanks 20 are insertedly disposed on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of the hull 11, and the auxiliary sinking prevention tanks 61 are on the center of the ship, such that the helium gas is charged to the interiors of the sinking prevention tanks 20 and the auxiliary sinking prevention tanks 61, thereby obtaining buoyant forces more than the total weight of the ship when the ship sinks or turns over and further preventing the ship from sinking or turning over.

For example, if the weight of the hull of the ship is 2000 kg and the weight of the engine is 1000 kg to provide the total weight of the ship of 3000 kg, even when the sinking prevention tanks 20 are charged only with helium gas of 1 kg/m3, the buoyant force of about 5,600 kg can be obtained, thereby preventing the ship from sinking.

Moreover, even if the helium gas charged to the sinking prevention tanks 20 is ejected outside, specific gravity difference between the air of the sinking prevention tanks 20 and sea water is about 800 kg/m3, such that only with the air of 4 kg/m3 occupied in the sinking prevention tanks 20, the buoyant force of about 3,300 kg/m3 can be obtained. Therefore, even though the helium gas is ejected outside, the sinking of the ship can be prevented.

According to the present invention, each of the tank-retaining parts 10 in which the sinking prevention tank 20 is disposed has a urethane foam 70 insertedly disposed therein so as to absorb the impacts caused by the destruction of the hull 11 and to protect the sinking prevention tanks 20 insertedly disposed therein.

Even though the ship collides against reefs to cause the bottom of the hull 11 to be destructed, the sinking prevention tanks 20 insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts 10 can be protected by means of the urethane foams 70, thereby providing the sinking prevention effects of the ship through the buoyant forces obtained by the sinking prevention tanks 20.

After the urethane foams 70 have been insertedly disposed, composite materials are additionally disposed on top of the urethane foams 70, thereby more rigidly filling the insides of the tank-retaining marts 10.

Now, an explanation of a method for manufacturing a ship with sinking prevention tanks according to the present invention will be given. As shown in FIG. 7, the method for manufacturing a ship with sinking prevention tanks includes the steps of: forming tank-retaining parts 10 on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of a hull 11 (at step S1); insertedly disposing a urethane foam 70 in each of the tank-retaining parts 10 (at step S2); insertedly disposing the sinking prevention tanks 20 in the tank-retaining parts 10 each having the urethane foam 70 insertedly disposed therein (at step S3); blocking the top sides of the tank-retaining parts 10 in which the sinking prevention tanks 20 are insertedly disposes by means of a blocking wall 30 (at step S4); connecting the sinking prevention tanks 20 insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts 10 to gas supply lines 40 (at step S5); and connecting the gas supply lines 40 connected to the sinking prevention tanks 20, to charging valves 50 (at step S6).

That is, the tank-retaining parts 10 are formed on the hull 11 of the ship (at the step S1), and next, the urethane foam 70 as insertedly disposed in each of the tank-retaining marts 10 (at the step S2). After that, a separate composite material can be insertedly disposed in each of the tank-retaining parts 10.

The sinking prevention ranks 20 are insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts 10 (at she step S3), and then, helium gas is charged to the sinking prevention tanks 20.

Further, the top sides of the tank-retaining parts 10 in which the sinking prevention tanks 20 charged with the helium gas are insertedly disposed are covered with the blocking wall 30 (at the step S4), and next, the gas supply lines 40 are connected to the sinking prevention tanks 20 (at the step S5). After that, the gas supply lines 40 are connected to the charging valves 50 disposed on the inside of the hull 11 (at the step S6).

Next, the inside and outside of the hull 11 are finished to provide good outer appearance of the ship, thereby completing the process for manufacturing the ship with the sinking prevention tanks.

As described above, there are provided the ship with the sinking prevention tanks and the method for manufacturing the same wherein the tank-retaining parts are formed on the port and starboard sides and on the center portion of the hull in such a manner as so insertedly dispose the sinking prevention tanks therein, each of the sinking prevention tanks being charged with helium gas to obtain a buoyant force more than the total weight of the ship when the ship sinks or turns over, thereby preventing the ship from sinking and further minimizing the loss of life and the property damages, and wherein the gas supply lines and the charging valves connected to the gas charging parts of the sinking prevention tanks are additionally provided, thereby periodically supplying the helium gas to the interiors of the sinking prevention tanks and further reducing the manufacturing costs of the ship.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. 

1. A ship with sinking prevention tanks comprising: tank-retaining parts formed on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of a hull; the sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed in the rank-retaining parts and having gas charging parts formed thereon so as to charge helium gas thereinto; a blocking wall adapted to block the too sides of the tank-retaining parts in which the sinking prevention tanks are insertedly disposed; gas supply lines connected to the gas charging parts formed on the sinking prevention tanks; and charging valves disposed on the inner side of the deck of the hull in such a manner as to be connected to the gas supply lines and thus to recharge the helium gas to the interiors of the sinking prevention tanks through the gas charging parts.
 2. The ship with sinking prevention tanks according to claim 1, further comprising: auxiliary tank-retaining parts formed on the center of the bottom of the hull; and auxiliary sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed in the auxiliary tank-retaining parts and having the helium gas charged thereinto, the auxiliary sinking prevention tanks being connected to the gas supply lines and the charging valves.
 3. The ship with sinking prevention tanks according to claim 2, wherein each of the tank-retaining parts in which the sinking prevention tank is disposed has a urethane foam insertedly disposed therein so as to absorb the impacts caused by the destruction of the hull and to protect the sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed therein.
 4. A method for manufacturing a ship with sinking prevention tanks, the method comprising the steps of: forming tank-retaining parts on the port and starboard sides of the bottom of a hull; insertedly disposing a urethane foam in each of the tank-retaining parts; insertedly disposing the sinking prevention tanks in the tank-retaining parts each having the urethane foam insertedly disposed therein; blocking the top sides of the tank-retaining parts in which the sinking prevention tanks are insertedly disposed by means of a blocking wall; connecting the sinking prevention tanks insertedly disposed in the tank-retaining parts to gas supply lines; and connecting the gas supply lines connected to the sinking prevention tanks, to charging valves. 